B | Player Pics | A-Z of Players
Personal
Fullname: Theódór Elmar Bjarnason
aka: Teddy Bjarnason, Theodor Bjarnason
Born: 4 March 1987
Birthplace: Reykjavík
Height: 5′ 10″ (178cm)
Signed: 31 December 2004
Left: 15 Jan 2008
Position: Left/Central Midfielder
Debut: 20 May 2007 v Hibernian, Premier league (1 – 2)
Internationals: Iceland
International Caps: 9 caps
International Goals: 0 goals
Biog
“It would have been amazing to have had a career at Celtic but I’m just proud of have had three years at Celtic and one game.”
Teddy Bjarnson (2024)
Signed in December 2004 after a trial at the club, arriving from KR Reykjavík alongside Finnbogason. He was marked out to be an excellent youth signing who had already started to make a role for himself as a wide left sided midfielder.
With footballing intelligence and stamina he became an automatic choice in the U19’s, moving up to the Reserves in 2005/06 where he commonly played left side of a midfield pair. However despite that progress, in January 2007 it was reported that he would not be offered a contract extension.
Even so he went on to win his debut at the end of the season after generally having an excellent 2006/07 season as a regular in the Reserves with occasional bench spots for the first team.
His debut for the first team came in a 2-1 defeat by Hibs in May 2007, but regardless of the final result he still won praise for his performance from some (including a MOTM from the KDS forum). He also was unfortunate not to score in this game, with a good shot tipped over the bar by the Hibernian goalkeeper. The match is best remembered for Scott Brown scoring against Celtic after having signed for Celtic a few days beforehand and was to transfer over to Celtic soon enough.
It boded well for Bjarnason, and in a turnaround at Celtic, he signed a new 3-year contract offer in June 2007, going on to have an excellent pre-season with the first team. However, he was not give any further opportunities with the first team again, and a lack of first team opportunities led to him seeking an exit and he joined Norwegian side Lyn Oslo in January 2008. Cynics have used this as another example to criticise Gordon Strachan’s management of various players, with others like Donatti in a similar position.
He signed for IFK Gothenburg in July 2009, but demonstrated his headstrong streak by retiring from international football after being overlooked for the qualifier with Holland in June 2009. He later played for Randers (Denmark) but his career never really hit any heights at club level, it wasn’t to be for him.
His career highlight was to be for the national team having turned back on his first retirement from the international game. He was to play his part in getting Iceland to incredibly qualify for Euros 2016 (ahead of the Netherlands), and played in their opening match (coming on as a late sub) where they shocked everyone by winning a point against highly fancied Portugal who had the legendary Ronaldo in their side. There was more, and again he was subbed on in what was to be an incredible & surprising victory in knocking England out in the last 16 round by 2-1, possibly England’s worst ever result. We all laughed. It had come just after the UK had voted to exit the EU (‘Brexit’), and you can guess the jokes that followed. It was a fairytale story for Iceland, which the rest of us looked on with real joy.
In 2024, in an interview with The Celtic View podcast, he reflected back that he regretted leaving Celtic, and admitted some of it was not being mentally prepared enough and a bit care-free/unprofessional (no different to most young players in fairness).
“It would have been amazing to have had a career at Celtic but I’m just proud to have had three years at Celtic and one game… Only great memories, [but] I wish I had more focus on the football side!”
We wish him the best, and he will be best remembered for that wonderful experience with Iceland at the national side level.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2004-08 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| Goals: | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
| KDS Honours |
||
| MOTM Winners 2006-07 | ||
| 20-May-07 | Hibs 2 v 1 Celtic | SPL |
Honours with Celtic
none